


Another Version Of The Truth

by orphan_account



Category: Year Zero (Alternate Reality Game)
Genre: Biological Warfare, Drabble, Drug Use, Dystopian Future, Gen, Homophobia, Self-Harm, Terrorism, totalitarianism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-15 21:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8072977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “I would never tell you anything that wasn't absolutely true that hadn't come right from His mouth and He wants me to tell you…”





	1. Vessel

**Author's Note:**

> If you're familiar with Year Zero, then you know these drabbles are going to be really bleak. If you aren't, it's this: a Nine Inch Nails' concept album and alternate reality game set around a dystopian future in which war is rampant, freedom fighters turn to terrorism, governments have assumed totalitarian control of their nations, and a strange alien/divine (no one knows) presence is increasing in sightings. This work is a series of drabbles set in the world of Year Zero.

She was tripping on opal again, the whites of her eyes black as the night sky overhead. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so at ease, so warm and calm. All her problems seemed miles away as she lay there on the rooftop of her apartment. She could hear the dogs barking below, television static and the screaming of her neighbors. 

Her girlfriend laid beside her, basking in the same drugged out haze as her. They were peaceful and quiet, enjoying the stillness of the city’s midnight. But it wouldn’t last. When did it ever? It was one of the few times they could be together. They heard the cops come up through the stairwell, but made no move to react. That was the last time they ever saw each other.


	2. The Good Soldier

They didn’t tell him he could never go home until it was too late. 

The first batch was one thing, small blue capsules that he swallowed easily and that countered the effects of the Parepin in his system. Any righteous man of the 105th Airborne Crusaders had to be on it, to do what was right and to serve his country. He fought hard and did his duty. 

The second batch was something else entirely. The pills were a bright angry red and they stuck to his tongue, scraped down his throat and choked him every time. The artificial cherry flavor was lost on him. But he knew being on it meant he was considered one of the best. No one ever said the effects would be permanent. 

“Fucking blisters,” he cursed in his cot, “Breathe, breathe..” But he couldn’t. His stomach hurt him something fierce. He tossed and turned, barely able to sleep. All he could think about was the prior mission, the way it had gone down. 

The blood spraying on his face had aroused him to the point of pain, and the pain spurred him on to keep dropping bodies left and right. Inside, he was full of fear. 

He knew this was it. He would never be able to return to civilian life. 

He was ruined.


	3. In This Twilight

The young resistance leader sat tied to a chair in the middle of the room. She breathed deeply, eyes darting around at the blank walls, ceiling, and floor. If she hadn’t been done for before, she definitely was now. 

Over the intercom, a female voice blared in her ears. 

“…You are now part of the problem. Your reeducation is about to begin. God bless America.” 

It was sick, what they’d done to her homeland. Freedom was all but gone forever. 

She startled as a soldier came into the room, gun in hand. She swallowed thickly, and in her head, begged for mercy.


	4. Survivalism

The knife cut him deep, but it was worth it. Sharpness parted skin until he reached the muscle, the meatiest part of his arm. The red square of the chip stuck out against the pink of his flesh, and carefully, he used the tweezers to grab hold of it and pull it out, like a real life version of the Operation game he played as a child. 

“Try tracking me now, you bastards,” he hissed, setting the chip aside before pulling out some thread to begin stitching up the gaping gash in his wrist. 

He kept his hoodie on when he headed out to the bus stop, and got on for a brief ride. As subtly as he could manage, he taped the chip to the underside of a seat, before getting off to return home. 

He just hoped his plan would work out. 

The cut on his wrist would scar.


	5. My Violent Heart

She had one mission: get the virus inside. The cops would do the rest. 

She found one drunken young man hanging around outside the club, keeled over and puking beside a dumpster. She approached him slowly. “I can help you with that,” she said shakily. 

“What?” he coughed, straightening and turning to look at her. 

“I can give you something to help with that,” she elaborated in a lie, “Come here.” 

The man was hesitant, confused at first, until he finally staggered over to her. When he was close enough, she pulled out a syringe and quickly stabbed it into his neck, injecting him with the virus, eliciting a pained cry from him. He pulled away from her and stumbled back into the club, leaving her alone. 

She brought her fingers up to her comm, “It’s done.” 

The agents closed in around the building. 

It wouldn’t be long now.


	6. God Given

What they had done to the world could not be undone. So many chances they’d had. So many opportunities to change their ways. And yet, the world continued to turn backwards. People continued to die. Governments crushed the hopes and dreams of their own people. And it was so, that it ended. 

The ghostly hands reached down all around the world. People stared with fearful eyes. 

Everyone was frozen, the final appearance of the Presence on their destroyed planet. 

They watched as their end descended. 

There was nothing they could do.


End file.
